by Adi Joseph and Yannis Koutroupis, USA TODAY Sports

by Adi Joseph and Yannis Koutroupis, USA TODAY Sports

HOUSTON - Terrence Ross wore the Vince Carter throwback. Then he followed in his Toronto Raptors predecessor's footsteps.

Ross won the NBA All-Star weekend slam dunk contest Saturday night in a memorable final round against Utah Jazz forward and defending champion Jeremy Evans. Ross had the best first round in the event and followed through to become the first rookie to win since Josh Smith in 2005.

The final round was decided by fan vote through various media.

With his first dunk in the final round, Ross paid tribute to Carter, donning his jersey while throwing down a 360 off an alley-oop from the side of the backboard.

Evans responded with a dunk over a self-portrait that he personally drew with acrylics over the last week and a half. It was a chance for Evans, who says he would be an artist if he wasn't a professional basketball player, to show off a side of himself that not a lot of people know about.

With his final dunk Ross went between his legs while clearing a ball boy, an idea inspired by his agent.

"I told him the day before that I was going to jump over him," Ross said. "But I never told him I was going through the legs. He was kind of nervous. When I first grabbed him he said, 'You're not going to hit me, right?' I said, 'No, I'm not going to hit you.' So, I had to calm his nerves."

Evans emphatically slammed down a pass from Dahntay Jones with his last dunk, which then put the final judgment in the hands of the fans.

"It was very hard," Evans said. "It is hard every year just because so much has been done and there's only so much you can do in the air."

At the start, Gerald Green and James White, two of the favorites along with Evans, were poised to steal the show.

Green, from Houston, brought the crowd in the Toyota Center to its feet with an alley-oop dunk off the side of the backboard that earned him a 50. Playing off of his nickname "flight," White darted past flight attendants en route to a tomahawk slam from just inside the free throw line. The judges awarded him a 45. Not to be outdone, Ross pulled off a 360 behind-the-back dunk that tied him with Green for the lead after one dunk.

Kenneth Faried and Eric Bledsoe dug themselves in an early hole with 39s, while defending champion Evans skied over shot-blocking Jazz legend Mark Eaton, who was seated, for a reverse jam that kept him in the mix to advance with a 47.

On his second dunk White couldn't complete a windmill from inside the free throw line, eliminating himself from contention.

Green struggled as well on his next attempt, matching White's 32 as he consistently fumbled an innovative double dunk where he cut the net down then tried to slam it with his right hand, catch the ball as it went through, and dunk it again with his left before coming down. Green was eventually able to complete the dunk, but unfortunately for him it was after his time had expired and the judges could not count it.

"I wanted to try something that was difficult," Green said. "That's how I grew up watching the dunk contest, whoever can pull out the most difficult dunk gets the highest score but I just didn't pull it off.

"I didn't want to switch. It was all or nothing. You know how you play poker you go all in? I was all in on that dunk."

After seeing two of the favorites struggle, Ross went with a safe 360 off a self-pass that was authoritative enough to keep him atop the leader board with a 99 overall.

Faried and Bledsoe bounced back in a major way with 50s as Faried went off the glass then between his legs, while Bledsoe put down a reverse windmill off an alley-oop. It would not be enough to push them into the final round, though, as Evans did a 360 while dunking two basketballs to set up a showdown against Ross for the championship.

"I feel blessed, but it's still overwhelming," Ross said. "I'm just trying to soak it all in."